Steering and propulsion of watercraft



April 30,1968 v. N. DAVIES ,380,

STEERING AND PROPULSION OF WATERCRAFT Filed Oct. 1.9, 1966. 2 Sheets-5heet 1 AGENT April 30, 1968 v. N. DAVIES 3,380,425

STEERING AND PROPULSION OF WATERCRAFT Filed 001.. 9, 1966 2 Sheets- Jheet f:

Inventor v cTofi NORMAN D Rvlfi Ase/m United States Patent 3,380,426 STEERING AND PROPULSION 0F WATERCRAFT Victor N. Davies, Thames View 21, Leigh Park Road, Leigh-on-Sea, England Filed Oct. 19, 1966, Ser. No. 587,923 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Oct. 21, 1965,

44,703/65; Sept. 15, 1966, 41,275/66 9 Claims. (Cl. 115-28) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A boat steering and propelling device includes a blade mountable selectively in a fore or aft part of a carrier. The carrier parts may hold the blade in a raised position or in an operative position below the water-line of the boat. The carrier fore part is pivoted to the stern of the boat and the aft part is hinged to the fore part. The blade acts as a rudder when in the operative position in the fore part and as a propeller when in the operative position in the aft part. The fore part may be manipulated from the boat by a tiller.

This invention concerns improvements in or relating to the steering and propulsion of watercraft such as, for example, dinghies and sailing boats (all hereinafter included in the term boat). I

It is an object of the present invention to provide improved steering and/or propelling means for watercraft.

Whilst the means of the invention may be used in conjunction with watercraft, for example, canoes, not normally provided with rudders, the means of the invention are particularly suitable for use in connection with sailing boats or the like which normally carry a rudder. It is a drawback of existing small sailing boats that, when the wind drops, there are no effective means of propelling the boat unless oars are used, but these are cumbersome to carry in a small boat and also necessitate the provision of rowlocks to operate them. It is a further object of the present invention to provide simple means for steering and propel-ling a boat and particularly for propelling a sailing boat when there is insuflicient wind. z

The invention provides in or for a boat, steering and propelling means comprising a blade carrier having two parts hingedly secured together about an axis in the vertical plane containing the longitudinal axis of the boat, that edge of one of said parts (hereinafter called the fore part) remote from the other part (hereinafter called the aft part) being, or adapted to be, pivotally secured to the stern of a boat so that the blade carrier is above the water-line thereof, each of said parts being so formed as to carry a blade adapted to extend in its operative position below the water-line, means being provided by which the or each blade may be secured in a raised position with respect to said blade carrier, the blade in its operative position when carried by the said fore part acting as a rudder and the blade in its operative position when carried by the said aft part of the blade carrier, acting as a propelling device, and means for connecting the said fore part to an operating arm which may be manipulated from within the boat to which the steering and propelling means are attached to cause the blade carrier to oscillate about a substantially vertical axis.

Preferably a single blade is provided which is selectively transferable from the said fore part to the said aft part of the blade carrier.

According to another feature of the invention, the aft part or frame of the blade carrier may be so shaped that the blade, when in its propelling position, is at an ice angle to the vertical and extends downwardly and rearwardly away from the stern of the boat.

Conveniently the two parts of the blade carrier are so hinged together that they have a controlled angular movement of 45 to one another.

According to yet another feature of the invention, the two parts of the said blade carrier may be releasably secured together so that the aft part may be removed when desired. Thus, for example, the two parts of the said blade carrier may be hinged together on a removable pin, or pintles could be used, or the two parts of the blade carrier could be releasably secured together by means of a bayonet device.

Preferably the said fore part and aft part are each vertically slotted so as slideably to receive the blade.

Conveniently the said operating means or arm comprise the tiller of the boat, the said fore part of the blade carrier being provided with a bracket into which, for example, a tiller tube or tiller, for instance of wood, fits.

The said blade may be made of wood, metal, glass fibre, or other suitable material. Whilst different blades may be provided, it will normally be found that a single blade may be used selectively as the rudder or propelling device.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood two embodiments of the same will now be described by way of-example and with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation showing one embodiment of the steering and propelling means of the invention attached to a sailing boat and with the blade in the rudder position;

FIGURE 2 is an elevation of the stern of the sailing boat of FIGURE 2 showing the blade in the propelling position;

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic plan view of the stern of the sailing boat of FIGURES l and 2 showing the operation of the propelling means;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to that of FIGURE 2 but showing a second embodiment of the steering and propelling means of the invention; and

FIGURE 5 is a similar view to that of FIGURE 4 showing the blade of FIGURE -4 in the propelling position.

In both the embodiments the propelling means are attached to a sailing boat having a hull 1.

In the first embodiment (see FIGURES 1, 2 and 3) the propelling means comprise a blade carrier generally indicated at 2 consisting of a fore part 3 and an aft part 4 in the form of two cast rectangular frames hinged together along one edge about an axis in the vertical plane containing the longitudinal axis of the hull 1 of the boat on a removable hinge pin 5 with a controlled angular movement of 45 to one another. The hinges are at rightangles to the pin 5. The fore part 3 carries a bracket 6 on the top thereof into which a tiller tube 7 fits and, on the vertical edge 8 of the fore part 3 remote from the aft part 4 are means for hinging the propelling means on the transom of the stern 9 of the boat in such a position that the blade carrier 2 is above the water-line 10 of the boat.

Each frame is provided with a vertical slot 11, 12, through which a wood or metal blade 13 can slide, the upper part of the blade being provided with one or more projections14 or with a hole and co-operating pin to ,prevent the blade from being withdrawn downwardly from the slot in which it is inserted. Means (not shown) for example, a pin insertable through a suitably positioned aperture in the blade, or a rubber pressure pad or pads in each frame are provided, so that, when desired, for instance, when the boat is sailing in shallow water or 3 when it is to be beached, the blade 13 may be raised and secured in that position, as indicated by the dot dash lines in FIGURES l and 2.

In use, when the boat is required for sailing, the blade 13 is inserted in its rudder position (see FIGURE 1), that is, it is inserted in the fore part 3 in such a way that it extends below the water-line 10 of the boat. (If desired, when racing, to avoid possible objection by race committees, the aft part 2 can be detached from the fore part 3 simply by withdrawing the hinge pin 5.)

When the wind drops so that it is desired to propel the boat, the blade 13 is removed from the fore part 3 and is inserted in its propelling position (see FIGURE 2), that is, it is inserted in the aft part 4. The aft part 4 and its slot 12 are so shaped and arranged that the blade, when in its propelling position, is at an angle to the vertical and extends downwardly and rearwardly from the stern 9 of the boat. With the yachtsman oscillating the tiller 15 not more than an included angle of 45 the blade 13 serves to propel the boat forward because the pressure face of the blade in either direction forms an included angle of from 45 to to the centre line or longitudinal axis of the boat, from the beginning to the end of each stroke. Thus in effect, when being used to propel the boat, the blade acts on the water. in much the same way as a fishs tail (see FIGURE 3). (Rubber, bonded to the butts of the hinge would quieten the action, and give a variable angle between the frames, that is a wider angle with heavy pressure on the tiller for starting, and less angle once the boat was under way, giving in effect a coarser pitch to the blade and more speed with less exertion.)

In the second embodiment shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, the arrangement is similar to that of the above described first embodiment, but the fore part 16 and aft part 17 of the propelling means are hinged together about a vertical axis by a removable pin 18 so that, as shown, the blade 19 is carried vertically both when in the rudder position and when in the propelling position.

It will be appreciated that, since the blade carrier is set above the water-line, no resistance is offered to the hull of the boat.

Furthermore the propelling means of the invention give the benefit of a narrow, deep rudder for racing enthusiasts with the advantage that in contrast with the normal deep racing rudder, it can be raised vertically.

By using the propelling means of the invention, oars and rowlocks need not be carried leaving more space in the boat whilst the yachtsman may face forwards or sideways instead of aft when oscillating the tiller unlike the position when sculling or rowing. Moreover, the yachtsman is comfortably seated for exerting the maximum pressure on the tiller for propulsion.

The above described embodiments of the invention may be modified by omitting the aft parts of the blade carrier so that only sliding drop rudders are provided. Alternatively the fore parts of the carrier need not be used or may be replaced by at least one arm of which one end is pivotally connected to the boat and the other end of which is hingedly connected to the aft part so that the means may be used merely as propelling means. In the latter case, the boat to which the means are attached will be a canoe or the like not normally provided with a rudder.

I claim:

1. For a boat, steering and propelling means comprising: a blade carrier, a fore part of said carrier adapted to be pivotally secured to the stern of a boat with the blade carrier above the water-line thereof, an aft part of said carrier hingedly secured to said fore part, at least one blade, each of said parts being so formed as to carry a blade which extends in its-operative position below said water-line, the blade in its operative position when carried by said fore part acting as a rudder and the blade in its operative position when carried by said aft part acting as a propelling device, means for securing said blade in a raised position, and means for connecting said fore part to an operating arm which may be manipulated from within the boat to cause the blade carrier to oscillate.

2. The means of claim 1, in which a single blade is provided which is selectively transferable from said fore part to said aft part of said blade carrier.

3. The means of claim 1, in which said aft part is so shaped and arranged that the blade, when in its propelling position, is at an angle to the vertical and extends downwardly and rearwardly away from the stern of the boat.

4. The means of claim 1, in which the two parts of the blade carrier are releasably secured together so that said aft part may be removed when desired.

5. For a boat, steering and propelling means comprising: a blade carrier, a fore part of said carrier adapted to be pivotally secured to the stern of a boat with the blade carrier above the water-line thereof, an aft part of said carrier hingedly secured to said fore part, a blade, each of said parts being so formed as selectively to carry said blade which extends in its operative position below said water-line, said blade being transferable from a rudder position in which it is carried by said fore part to a propelling position in which it is carried by said aft part, means by which said blade may be raised and secured in the raised position with respect to said aft part and tore part, and means for connecting said fore part to an operating arm which may be manipulated from within the boat to cause the blade carrier to oscillate.

6. The propelling means of claim 5, in which said aft part and said fore part are slotted so as slideably to receive said blade.

7. The means of claim 5, in which the two parts of the blade carrier have a controlled mean angular movement of 45 to one another.

8. In combination a boat and steering and propelling means therefor, said propelling means comprising: a blade carrier, :1 fore part of said carrier adapted to be pivotally secured to the stern of the boat with the blade carrier above the water-line thereof, an aft part of said carrier hingedly secured to said fore part, a blade, each of said parts being so formed as selectively to carry said blade which extends in its operative position below and water-line, said blade being transferable from a rudder position in which it is carried by said fore part to a propelling position in which it is carried by said aft part, means by which the blade may be secured in its raised position with respect to said blade carrier, a tiller and means for connecting said fore part to said tiller.

9. Fora boat: means comprising a blade carrier adapted to be pivotally secured to the stern of a boat with the blade carrier above the waterline thereof, a blade slidably carried by said blade carrier and extending in an operative position below said water-line, means for securing the blade in a raised positionwith respect to said blade carrier, and operating means for oscillating the blade from within the boat.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,475,031 11/1923 Sheldon 114-165 XR 2,631,559 3/1953 Jones 114-165 3,199,485 8/1965 Snider 114-165 ANDREW H. FARRELL, Primary Examiner. 

